“He was an innovator, he was an emancipator, he was an originator,” Richard told MSNBC. “Rap music, all that stuff came from James Brown.”

Human rights campaigner and friend of Brown for over 50 years, Rev Jesse Jackson said he thought the singer had gone out in typical style.

“He was dramatic to the end – dying on Christmas Day,” he said. “Almost a dramatic, poetic moment. He’ll be all over the news all over the world today. He would have it no other way.”

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Meanwhile the Rev Al Sharpton also praised the man he toured with during the 1970s.

“James Brown changed music,” he declared. “He made soul music a world music. What James Brown was to music in terms of soul and hip-hop, rap, all of that, is what Bach was to classical music. This is a guy who literally changed the music industry. He put everybody on a different beat, a different style of music. He pioneered it.”